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Langkawi: Cox grabs overall lead on Genting

Danielson top American in eighth

By Jason Sumner, VeloNews correspondent
Published: Feb. 4, 2005
A sprint to the line at Genting
A sprint to the line at Genting
Photo: John Pierce-PhotoSport International

Jose Rujano’s run at the overall Tour de Langkawi title won’t officially come to an end until the finish of Sunday’s stage 10 criterium in Kuala Lumpur. But in his mind, the pint-sized Venezuelan climber’s concession likely came with 3km to go in Friday’s stage 8 run from Kuala Kuba Baru to the top of the Genting Highlands. It was there that Rujano’s chief rival in the chase for the GC title, South African Ryan Cox, rolled up beside him and gave him a glaring gaze of confidence.

“We just exchanged looks for a second,” said Cox, who came into the day with a 14-second advantage over Rujano in the hunt for the top prize at this 10-day race in Malaysia, and was the only man who could match the Colombia Selle Italia rider in the final kilometers of the finishing climb. “He was riding in front of me most of the way, but I came up on his side just to show him that I was there and I wasn’t suffering. He was always out of the saddle, so when I came next to him I stayed in the saddle just looking very comfy and not under pressure.”

Cox was clearly not intimidated
Cox was clearly not intimidated
Photo: Casey B. Gibson

Of course Cox (Barloworld) was under some pressure. The hors categorie Genting ascent, with it’s near-20-percent pitches, will do that to anyone. But Cox has been here before and knew the effect his message would have. And while Rujano would take a few more shots at dropping Cox, the pair arrived at the finish together. There, Cox used his superior size to easily come around the smaller man, taking the stage win and all but locking up the 2005 TdL title. He now owns the yellow jersey and an 18-second lead with only two fairly easy stages remaining.

“He paced the whole way,” said Cox of his one-on-one battle with Rujano. “All I had to do was sit his wheel and that’s what I did. He was strong but I equaled him.”

Cox figured Rujano attacked him at least 10 times after the pair peeled off from a group of four with 5km to go. But there was no denying the man who was second overall here a year ago, and focused much of his offseason training on winning this race.

“There was one time when he went quite hard and I had to ride a bigger gear,” admitted Cox. “But I knew that the last 3 ks of the climb were really hard, and I think he started attacking a little bit too early. It wasn’t like there was one big attack where he was going to ride me off. He tried to attack too many times.”

Rujano, whose boyish looks and diminutive size could have him easily confused with one of the school children watching the race from the roadside, conceded that there was no beating Cox on this day.

“I was going okay,” he said through a translator. “But I was a little bit tired and just couldn’t drop him.”

Grajales managed fifth
Grajales managed fifth
Photo: Casey B. Gibson

Behind the top duo, who finished the 97.9km stage in 2:49:37, was Ceremica-Panaria’s Julio Perez, who crossed just in front of Barloworld’s Tiaan Kannemeyer, at 1:05. Navigators Cesar Grajales held on for fifth, at 1:21, while Discovery’s Tom Danielson was the top American in eighth at 2:21. Former yellow jersey holder Koji Fukushima lost the pace early on the climb, lumbering home in 36th at 7:27.

“I was feeling just very strong at the bottom,” said Grajales, who’s embarking on his first year as a full-time road pro after splitting time on the mountain bike in 2004. “Then I made a mistake and tried to use the triple that I had on. But it was too easy and my legs got heavy.”

It was poor timing for Grajales, whose heavy legs came just as Rujano’s top lieutenant, Marlon Perez, started upping the pace, trying to shed riders out of a lead group that numbered about 15.

“I tried to recover but that was when Marlon was pushing hard,” continued Grajales. “Then later when Rujano attacked I was having a very bad moment. I didn’t try to catch him right when he attacked. I tried to keep my pace. I was trying to recover and I couldn’t. I just had to keep going the same pace and make the top five.”

Grajales pulled that off, climbing to fourth in the overall and helping lift Navigators ahead of Discovery and into fourth place in the team standings.

Discovery’s Danielson settled in one place behind Grajales in the overall. And though he wasn’t able to repeat his breakout performance here in 2003, the American was confident the day’s effort bode well for the rest of the season.

“I don’t have much high end right now so I just rode threshold like I was supposed to,” he said. “I think I finally dropped off with about 5km to go. But it’s a good sign for [the Giro] and even Paris-Nice. If you look at the other guys here that are going to be at Paris-Nice they’re not even close right now.”

Discovery’s other hope, Canadian Michael Barry, entered the day fourth among the GC favorites, but didn’t have the legs for the climb and ended up 25th at 5:28.

“After the first accelerations I didn’t feel that great so I had to ride up my own speed,” he said. “I was pretty much suffering as soon as the climb started to get steep. The initial part was a little slower, but I was just suffering in the heat. I just didn’t feel very good. I couldn’t get on top of the gear.” Racing kicked off earlier than usual to accommodate the Muslim prayer day. But the 9:30 start did nothing to quiet the usual flurry of early attacks. The first to stick was the pairing of Dennis Kraft (Action) and Nico Sijmens (Landboukrediet), who went up the road at the 14km mark. Sijmens would soon drop Kraft, but after three others bridged across to the German, the trio quickly pulled up to Sijmens.

Barry
Barry
Photo: Casey B. Gibson

That group of four, which now included Sijmens teammate James Van Landschoot and Proton’s Najmee Wan, worked well together for the next hour, gaining an advantage that topped out at 2:33. But with Colombia Selle Italia doing most of the pace making back in the peloton, it was only a matter of time before the real GC contenders would takeover the front. The catch of Sijmens, the break’s last survivor, would come at the 79km mark, the same time the race blew apart. The initial selection included two-dozen riders, while Fukushima and the rest were spit out the back.

“I was not strong enough,” said the always-gracious Bridgestone rider. “But [the experience of being in yellow] was still magic for me. I am not yet a great rider, but this season my team will go to Europe. We want to progress and next year we want to win this race.”

Back at the front Credit Agricole’s Eric Leblacher was the first to attack the main bunch. But the Frenchman’s lead never got above 15 seconds and he was caught and dropped with 8km to go.

Next to give it a go was Panaria’s Fortunato Baliani who was quickly joined by Jesus Hernandez (Liberty Seguros). Their move was short lived as well. And with Perez working hard for Rujano, the remains of the main bunch (Cox, Rujano, Grajales, Danielson, Kannemeyer, Julio Perez, Jurgen Van De Walle (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) and Giuseppe Palumbo (Acqua & Sapone) swarmed past Baliani, while Hernandez barley held on.

Finally it was all up to Rujano, who rose out of his saddle at the 5km-to-go mark and shot up the road. Cox, Julio Perez and Kannemeyer were the only three who could initially match the pace, and two kilometers later only Cox was left on the Venezuelan’s wheel.

But despite a final flurry of attacks over the last 3km, there was no shaking Cox and with 100 meters to go he blasted by Rujano, taking the stage and command of the race.

“Ryan was incredible today,” said Barloworld team manager Christian Anderson. “I have never seen a rider so strong as him today. He did his job, everybody did their job. It was great teamwork.”

RACE NOTES
No worries
Despite the presence of three rated climbs during Saturday’s 164.8km trip from Menara Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya, none of the main players figured there would be any changes to the overall GC.

“We are already riding super well, so with the jersey on my shoulders I don’t think it’s a problem to ride on the front all day and keep it together,” said Cox of a 164.8km stage with two cat. 2 climbs and one cat. 1. “I think the climbs are too early for one of the contenders to go away and get any time. If we control it, Panaria is going well for the finish, so if we keep everything in reach they’re going to want to win the stage. It’s just going to be another bunch sprint tomorrow.”

Rujano echoed Cox’s sentiment. “Tomorrow will be a quiet day,” he said. “I don’t think anything will happen.”

Car trouble
There was nearly a very ugly end to the big battle between Rujano and Cox when the race director’s car pulled over too soon after crossing the finish line. The gaffe forced both riders to swerve around the vehicle, with Cox darting to the left, while Rujano went right.

Afterwards Rujano’s team manager Gianni Savio said the car may have cost his rider the stage win.

“It is the second stage we can win,” said Savio referring to Thursday’s premature celebration by sprinter Moreno Di Biase. “Yesterday it was the mistake of Di Biase. But today it was the mistake of a car.”

And while Rujano wouldn’t place full blame on the car, he wasn’t very happy about dodging traffic at the finish. “It is hard to sprint when there is a car in the way,” he said, after nearly crashing going around the car.

Getting in gear
There were varying strategies when it cam to gear choice for the Genting climb. Several of the Navigators riders opted for triples in the front, while race winner Cox went with a 39x25.

“I rode that at the bottom of the climb just to save the legs,” he said.

The Discovery team was also on 25s because they didn’t have access to anything else. But if Danielson and Barry had had their way, they would have been pushing something a little easier.

Grinding
Grinding
Photo: Casey B. Gibson

“I’m a spinner,” said Danielson, who had a 27 on when he was a close second to Colombian Hernan Dario Munoz in the 2003 Genting stage. “Once I backed off and rode threshold I was too slow. My cadence was like 70.”

Barry concurred, saying, “I was a little over-geared for sure. The guys on triple chainrings were definitely able to spin through the steep switchbacks and the steep sections, and that definitely saves your legs a lot.”

In the House
Great Britain’s Kristian House ended up 35th at 7:24, but still managed to hold onto the KoM jersey by three points over Fukushima. It’s a place the former track rider never expected to be, but he now figures it’s his to lose.

“I knew I wasn’t going to place in the top 12 on this climb,” he admitted. “It’s a bit big for me compared to these guys. I just tried to have a fairly comfortable ride up and try to save the legs for tomorrow.”House is coming off a stint with the British national track team, but said he’s about to ink a deal with the German Wiesenhoff team.“The hope is that help with getting something with T-Mobile in the future,” he said. “They’re not tied together, but they’re friends”Aussie Graeme Brown also held onto the points jersey, his only task on Friday to finish inside the time cut.

North American update
Behind Perez and Danielson, American Saul Raisin had the best day of the nine-rider North American contingent, placing at 3:03. Raisin’s effort was the best on his team, and moved him from 70th to 16th in the overall standings. Here’s the current GC placing of all the North Americans.

5. Tom Danielson (USA), Discovery, at 3:01
15. Michael Barry (Can), Discovery, at 6:00
16. Saul Raisin (USA), Credit Agricole, at 6:14
23. Mark Walters (Can), Navigators, at 6:53
26. Patrick McCarty (USA), Discovery, at 7:38
27. Julio Perez (Mex), Ceramica-Panaria, at 7:58
33. Jeff Louder (USA), Navigators, at 9:40
35. Michael Creed (USA), Discovery, at 9:51
44. Tony Cruz (USA), Discovery, at 13:25

In the team standings Navigators are fourth at 6:34, while Discovery slipped to fifth at 6:49. South Africa’s Barloworld is No. 1 with a team time of 75:15:29.

JERSEY UPDATE
Yellow (Overall): Ryan Cox (SA), Barloworld
Green (Points): Graeme Brown (Aus), Ceramica-Panaria
Polka Dot (KoM): Kristian House (GB), Great Britain National
Blue (Top Asian): Koji Fukushima (Jpn), Bridgestone

NEXT UP: Stage 9 — Menara Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya, 164.8km
The penultimate stage will bring three rated climbs between Menara Telekom and the country's new administrative capital in Putrajaya. In addition to the category 1 climb at Bukit Hulu Beranang, the riders will also have to contend with two category 2 climbs at Sungai Tekali and Jeram Toi. But with 76km of flat terrain following the final climb, expect another bunch sprint.

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